i8o 



NA TURE 



[December 21, 1893 



By the generosity of M. G. Solvay, two important institutes 

 have been established at Brussels, namely, a University Institute 

 of Physiology, and an institute specially designed for carrying on 

 electro-biological researches. In May last M. Solvay presented the 

 town with a sum of two hundred thousand francs for the erection 

 and equipment of the University building, stipulating only that 

 the University should provide courses in physiological chemistry, 

 and medical physics relating to the connection between physio- 

 Irry and electricity. This condition was laid down with 

 the object of improving the instruction at the University, 

 and developing the spirit of investigation in the minds of 

 students, thus giving them the ability to carry on physiological 

 researches independently in a special laboratory. For students 

 thus trainee^, and desiring to apply their knowledge^to research 

 of a special kind, the Solvay Institute has been established. 

 At the inauguration of this institute, on December 14, M. Solvay 

 delivered an address on the role of electricity in the phenomena 

 of life. He remarked that his conviction was that the pheno- 

 mena of life could probably be explained by the action of 

 physical forces, and that, among these forces, electricity played 

 an important part. It was to obtain evidence on this point, 

 by the observation and study of facts, that M. Solvay was led 

 to found the institute that bears his name. 



An appeal has been made for funds to establish a small station 

 at Millport for the study of the marine zoology and botany of the 

 Firth of Clyde and West of Scotland generally. It is intended 

 to establish in connection with the station a representative col- 

 lection of local marine fauna and flora, and, should the funds 

 permit, to construct tanks for the study of living animals and 

 plants. A station, on a limited scale — -centred in a small 

 vessel called the Ariz — has existed at Millport for some 

 years, and has been found exceedingly useful. During 1891 

 and 1892, the Royal Society of London gave a grant of ;^ 100 for 

 the investigation of the algas of the Clyde sea area. This work 

 was carried on chiefly in the Ark ; the result being that about 

 eighty species new to the district were found, and of these be- 

 tween twenty and thirty were new to Britain, and about six new 

 to science. The advantages which a permanent station would 

 ofler to students of natural history are sufficiently obvious. As 

 the scheme has the cordial approval of many of the Professors 

 at Glasgow University, and also the support of local naturalists, 

 there should be little difficulty in obtaining the contributions 

 required to realise it. 



We learn from the Allahabad Pioneer that subscription lists 

 will be opened immediately for the Pasteur Institute scheme. 

 The Amritsar municipality have sanctioned a donation of 1000 

 rupees and an annual subscription of 500 rupees. The Gurd- 

 aspur municipality had previously promised a donation and an 

 annual grant, and among other donations promised are 1000 

 rupees from Khan Bahadur Barjorjee D. Patel of Quetta. The 

 Government of India have promised to give the services of a 

 qualified medical officer to superintend the institution, which 

 is equivalent to an annual donation of at least 12,000 rupees. 

 Altogether the committee will commence their work under 

 most favourable auspices. 



Mr. E. a. Minchin, whose election to a Fellow- 

 ship at Merton College, Oxford, we noted last week, was 

 placed in the first class in the Honour School of Natural 

 Science (Animal Morphology) in 1890, and has since been a 

 Demonstrator in the Linacre Department of Comparative 

 Anatomy. It is understood that the examiners sent in a special 

 report to Merton College, to the effect that all of the eleven 

 candidates for the Fellowship acquitted themselves with dis- 

 tinction, and were, in the opinion of the examiners, fully up to 

 the standard required. 



NO. 1260, VOL. 49] 



The following appointments have recently been made in 

 America ; — Mr. W. S. Aldrich, Professor of Mechanical 

 Engineering, West Virginia University ; Mr. F. F. Almy, 

 Professor of Physics, Iowa College ; Dr. Charles E. Coates, 

 Professor of Chemistry, Louisiana State University; Dr. A. J. 

 Hopkins, Professor of Chemistry, Westminster College, Pa. ; 

 Dr. H. B. Loomis, Assistant Professor of Physics, North- 

 western University ; Dr. M. M. Metcalf, Professor of Biology, 

 Woman's College of Baltimore ; Mr. A. M. Muckenfuss, Pro- 

 fessor of Chemistry, Millsaps College, Miss. ; Mr. S. L. Powell, 

 Professor of Natural Sciences, Newberry College, S.C. ; Dr. 

 H. L. Russell, Assistant Professor of Bacteriology, University 

 of Wisconsin ; Dr. J. N. Swan, Professor of Chemistry, Mon- 

 mouth College, Illinois. 



In a recent Bulletin the State Board of Health of Michigan 

 makes the assertion that the statistics of sickness indicate a 

 connection between atmospheric ozone and influenza. Speaking 

 generally, influenza increases with the proportion of ozone in 

 the atmosphere. On the other hand, remittent fever decreases 

 as the proportion of ozone increases. 



- The following science lectures will be given at the Royal 

 Victoria Hall during January : — Prof Smithells on " Flame " ; 

 Mr. R. W. Frazer on "Life in South India"; Mr. F. W. 

 Rudler on "Diamonds" ; and Dr. Waghorn on "Our Eyes, 

 their merits and failings." 



Writing upon " South American Meteorology," in the 

 American Meteorological yoin-nal for December, Prof. W. H. 

 Pickering remarks that the Harvard College Observatory has 

 four meteorological stations in Peru, all within one hundred 

 miles of one another. The first is at MoUendo, on the sea coast, 

 with an altitude of 100 feet : the second is at La Joya, in the 

 desert — altitude 4140 feet ; the third is the observatory in the 

 Arequipa oasis — altitude 8060 feet ; and the fourth is at the 

 Ravine Camp upon Mount Chachani — altitude 16,600 feet. A 

 fifth has recently been established, by Prof S. I. Bailey, upon 

 the summit of the Misti, at an altitude of 19,200 feet. The 

 observations made at these observatories will doubtless lead to 

 a much more accurate knowledge of the meteorology of Southern 

 Peru than we at present possess. 



At the meeting of the Royal Society of New South Wales, on 

 November i, Mr. H. C. Russell described a new form of rain- 

 fall map. Instead of having different lints to indicate different 

 amounts of precipitation, Mr. Russell divides the area over 

 which the observations ext«nd into square degrees, and by means 

 of large figures printed on each square, shows to the nearest 

 quarter of an inch the mean rainfall for that spot. Other smaller 

 figures are used to show the number of years the observations 

 have been made, and the number of stations used to find the 

 mean. The map thus gives a large amount of information 

 about the average rainfall of a country, and, at the same time, it 

 shows in a conspicuous manner lines of equal rainfall and out- 

 lines of large areas of heavier rainfall, like the shaded maps ; 

 giving, in addition, what the shaded map cannot exhibit, viz. 

 the variations in the rainfall of these areas of heavier rain. A 

 map of New South Wales was prepared on this principle 

 by Mr. Russell, specially to meet the wants of the agri- 

 culturist ; but after it had been completed, it was found to 

 serve the requirements of the meteorologist better than any map 

 constructed on the shaded plan. 



In Hansa of the 9th instant, Captain C. H. Seemann discusses 

 the meteorological conditions which accompanied or preceded 

 the slight outbreak of cholera at Hamburg this year, and the 

 serious epidemic of 1892. A comparison of the curves of the 

 temperature of the air and the water of the Elbe for the 

 corresponding period of each year shows scarcely any difference. 



